“I ran so quickly to the opposite end of the campus (and) found the nearest restroom and cried,” Lewis said.

Lewis said singing became her escape from bullies. She was so good on stage that friends suggested that she enter Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen pageant. On her second try, Lewis won.

“That proved to me (that) I was doing something right, regardless of what I looked like, I was making a difference,” she said. “I can choose to be positive and show people who you can respect yourself, value yourself and others.”

After high school, doctors were finally able to correct the alignment of Lewis’ face with a difficult surgery that took a year of recovery. Lewis said it was all worth it.

“I’m so glad I went through this,” Lewis said. “I learned something so valuable -- that it’s what’s (inside) that’s so much more important than what’s (outside).”

Miss Mississippi had her interview with the Miss America pageant judges in Atlantic City Monday. The pageant live Sunday on 16 WAPT.